Buyer II or III, New Product Development - The Toro Company

Who Are We?  

With roots dating back to 1914, The Toro Company was built on a tradition of quality and caring relationships. Today, the company is a leading worldwide provider of innovative solutions for the outdoor environment including turf and landscape maintenance, snow and ice management, underground utility construction, rental and specialty construction, and irrigation and outdoor lighting solutions. Through a strong network of professional distributors, dealers, rental stores and retailers in more than 125 countries, we proudly offer a wide range of products across a family of global brands to help golf courses, professional contractors, underground construction professionals, groundskeepers, agricultural growers, rental companies, government and educational institutions, and homeowners – in addition to many leading sports venues and historic sites around the world.

Your Opportunity:

As a Buyer you will be sourcing prototype components/services for new product development (NPD) teams comprised of sourcing, marketing, design engineering, center for technology/research/innovation (CTRI) and advanced manufacturing team members. Support product development team(s) throughout all phases of new product/part development by working with suppliers and engineers to determine design approaches and alignment of supplier capabilities in order to ensure cost, delivery and quality advantages.

Sponsorship:  

• Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of a school/employment or any other visa, regardless of expiration date, now or in the future.

Job Title:

The job title will be based on academic and prior years of directly related experience.

• Buyer II: Bachelor's Degree plus more than two (3) years related experience.

• Buyer III:Bachelor's Degree plus more than four (5) years related experience.

Work Location: 

• This role will be based at the Bloomington, MN Toro's International Corporate Headquarters.  Fully remote is not available at this time. 

• The current team works 3-days on campus, with optional 2-days remote.  

• Typical office environment as it pertains to lighting, temperature, and noise level when in administrative/operations offices.

• This position will work closely with key channel partners and must collaborate among a wide variety of internal teams including marketing, retail and sales channels, business segments and more.

• Travel 10%, domestic and international, an related expense reporting duties.

What Will You Do?  

In order to grow and build a successful career with The Toro Company, you will be responsible for: 

• Communicate and work with existing Company production and non-production supplier base and internal development teams from prototype phase through production launch to ensure material supply well aligned to support development, pilot, and launch builds.

• Create, follow up, and maintain purchase orders throughout the development cycle, while expediting with suppliers to address any gaps in supply.

• Support and lead material readiness reviews with project teams and site materials teams and escalate to project-based NPD Sourcing Managers or company-wide Commodity Managers as needed to assure successful material alignment.

• Identify and maintain up-to-date knowledge of approved supplier capabilities, technologies and processes in order to assist in the matching of appropriate suppliers for new parts originating from product development teams.

• Partner with NPD Sourcing Managers and Commodity Managers on production award decisions and negotiation.

• Participate in the prototype “buy” process for fabricated components with NPD sourcing, advanced manufacturing, and engineering internal customer base.

• Research new technologies, materials, and suppliers that can be incorporated into Toro’s new product development model and serve as an internal resource, communicating findings to project teams.

• Consider and address potential design for manufacturability during the prototype request process, communicating to respective internal customer.

• Negotiate with suppliers and internal customers to provide the best options with the best lead times, cost, and other applicable variables.

• Serve as a “liaison” between the Company and its non-production supplier base.

• Serve as an active product development team member in phases 1-5 of Toro’s Phase Gate processes to ensure cross-functional objectives of new product development (NPD).

• Work with CTRI team to secure components and services for “one off” R&D (research and development) units.

• Participate in new product/part design reviews and coordinate the election and participation of applicable suppliers for prototype components/services.

• Support NPD sourcing teams at other Toro locations, as needed.

• Provide pricing and analysis with product development teams to support project budgets.

• Work with internal fabrication systems, Product Development Lab (PDL), to support justification of capital improvements/asset acquisition.

• Participate with advanced manufacturing engineers (AME’s) and product designers in identifying new outsourcing opportunities as part of the make vs buy decision for “non-production” components.

• Participate in pre-production procurement of key components as asked.

• Initiate the “non-production” approval process, as needed.

• Support Toro test and industrial design and marketing internal customers with procurement of components for testing needs, show units and voice of customer(VOC) units.

• Support supplier visits and lunch-n-learns as requested.

• Support “non-production” prototype components.

• Develop and maintain prototype quoting strategies and performance metrics.

Other Job Dimensions?

• Under direction of Manager, Sourcing – NPD, this position supports strategic and tactical sourcing activities for a variety of low, medium, and high complexity, and high-risk materials, components and services. Work is to be performed cross-functionally with marketing, design engineering, advanced manufacturing, manufacturing, test, industrial design and both prospective and existing suppliers. Support prototyping initiatives.

What Do You Need?  

To be considered for this role, an individual should meet the following minimal requirements: 

• Bachelor’s degree required, preferred in Supply Chain Management, Operations or Engineering.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to effectively and diplomatically interact with and meet customer needs (internal and external).

• Highly self-motivated, ability to work under pressure, manage and prioritize multiple objective concurrently, attend to details, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

• Proven ability to analyze situations and accurately take effective actions.

• Ability to maintain composure during high stress situations, remaining focused on the ultimate objective.

• Capacity to work independently as well as within a team-oriented, collaborative environment.

• Understanding of manufacturing processes, cost drivers, and market dynamics for assigned commodities.

• Up to 10% travel (domestic and international), and related expense reporting duties.

Preferred:

• Master's degree required, preferred in Supply Chain Management, Operations or Engineering.

• Certification through ISM or APICS preferred.

• Excellent computer skills including Microsoft Suite, SAP preferred.

What Can We Give You? 

At The Toro Company, we are always working to make sure our employees know just how valued they are. In addition to a competitive salary, an affordable and top-tier medical/dental/vision plan, 401k, and many other great benefits - The Toro company offers employees at our Bloomington, MN HQ location a variety of perks, including: 

• Dress for your day- We know you're more productive when you're comfortable, which is why TTC employees are encouraged to take advantage of our casual, corporate environment. 

• Food- Take advantage of our onsite café, which serves both breakfast and lunch. With a Caribou Coffee attached, you can grab a snack and a coffee at any time during your day. 

• Wellness- The Toro Company’s HQ offers complimentary use of our onsite fitness facility to employees. In addition to physical well-being, TTC offers a variety of mental health and financial health resources to all employees.  

• Volunteerism - The Toro Company is proud to provide employees 20 hours of paid time to volunteer` in the community. 

• Summer Hours – Enjoy a flexible schedule during the summer! By working a little more during the first few days of the week, TTC employees at our Bloomington HQ are able to start their weekends early and leave by noon on Friday. 

• Competitive Salary – A reasonable salary estimate is $70,000 - 90,000 for this opportunity.The pay range takes into account skills, experience, education, and location. It is not common to be hired at or near the top of the range; compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. Cash compensation is one piece of our competitive total rewards package. If you need to, you can access your pay early with the One@Work app, formerly the Even app. 

At The Toro Company, we are committed to fostering a secure and trustworthy recruitment experience for our applicants. Recruitment fraud is a growing concern for job seekers, so please be aware that throughout our recruitment process, you’ll never be required to pay any fees or disclose personal financial details when applying to TTC opportunities. All legitimate job opportunities must be applied for directly through our official careers page at jobs.thetorocompany.com or via Workday, our applicant tracking system.

The Toro Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider all qualified applicants based on merit and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, military service, or other non-merit factors. We are committed to creating a welcoming environment for all employees.

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